Joseph Humphries, one of the best of the famous wicketkeepers who have appeared for Derbyshire, died at Chesterfield on May 8, within ten days of reaching 70 years of age. First playing for the county in 1899 as understudy to William Storer--then still at his best-- Humphries gradually became the regular keeper, and from 1902 steadily improved until he went out to Australia in the winter of 1907. It proved an ill-fated tour; an attack of pneumonia kept A. O. Jones, the captain, out of the first three Tests, and in the first match R. A. Young of Cambridge and Sussex, who wore spectacles, was preferred as wicket-keeper--no doubt because of his batting. As a matter of fact Young scored only 27 runs in four Test innings, while Humphries, replacing him until the fifth Test, made 44 in six innings. Sir Home Gordon, in Form at a Glance, credited Humphries with 545 catches and 103 stumpings up to 1914, when the war finished his first-class career. His runs numbered 5,436, average 14.15.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack